Assessing the Potential Role of Ground Beetles (Coleoptera) as Ecological Indicators in Tropical Ecosystems: A Review. Chapter 3.

Data
2014
Autores
Cabral, João Alexandre
Santos, Mário
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ISSN da revista
Título do Volume
Editora
Camilla Stack (Ed)
Resumo
Emerging concerns with environmental issues has led researchers to look for indicators capable of providing information on the condition of ecosystems. Several animal species have been used primarily for this role, and it is of fundamental importance that an indicator is sensitive to the pressure to which it is related. Among these organisms, ground-beetles were found to be appropriate indicators for this purpose, because they are adapted to all habitats, being extremely associated with ecosystem function and sensitive to ongoing changes. In fact several families of ground beetles, e. g. Carabidae, Cicindelidae, Elateridae, Cerambycidae, Chrysomelidae, Staphylinidae and Curculionidae were used in diverse ecological assessment studies due to its characteristics: high ecological fidelity, enormous taxonomic diversity, collectible in large samples and functionally diverse. Although there are a growing number of studies on ecological indicators, little is yet known about the ecological pattern in the communities of ground beetles in tropical ecosystems. The present study provides a systematic review on the use of ground beetles as environmental indicators in tropical ecosystems, with focus on the Brazilian Amazon region. We discuss its use for monitoring the effects of farming practices, monoculture plantations, timber extraction, burnings, among others on the functioning of tropical systems. Subsequently, the major advances and applications employed are reported, as well as proposals for future studies with this group.
Descrição
Palavras-chave
Coleoptera , Biodiversity , Ground Beetles , Ecological Indicators , Tropical Ecosystems
Citação
Cajaiba R. J. et al., 2014